Well, no — your humble correspondent didn't know who David Lingmerth was until this past weekend at TPC Sawgrass. Benevolent fellow golf addicts that we are, we thought it was worth a look at this young man, who nearly made Tiger sweat it out on Sunday at The Players Championship.

Lingmerth is in his rookie season on the PGA Tour, having gotten there by virtue of finishing tenth on the HoganNikeBuy.comNationwide Web.com Tour money list. He got there in part with a victory at the Mid-Atlantic Championship which, at the time Lingmerth won, was known as the "Neediest Kids Championship." Before THAT, the tournament was known as the "Melwood Prince George's County Open."

(Talk about an identity crisis!)

The 25-year-old Swede has certainly capitalized on his opportunity; he made it to a playoff in January at the PGA Tour's Palm Springs stop, which was won by Brian Gay. Lingmerth had missed eight cuts going into this weekend, interrupted only by a T-51 at Tampa Bay and a T-50 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. But with his T-2 at The Players Championship, Lingmerth has surged to 31st in the FedEx Cup standings — certainly not bad for a Tour rookie!

Lingmerth hails from Tranås, a small city in golf-crazy Sweden, near Jönköping. Perhaps to get the full culture-shock out of the way early, Lingmerth attend the University of Arkansas for three years, following a freshman campaign at the University of West Florida. This may have been prompted by Lingmerth's uncle, Goran Lingmerth, who attended Northern Arizona University and was a kicker for the NFL's Cleveland Browns in 1987.

David Lingmerth has two younger brothers who play hockey, which is not surprising since Jönköping is a big hockey town. Lingmerth himself is a huge Washington Capitals fan, so he is likely to spend this Monday evening in front of the television at his Jacksonville Beach home, watching and hoping that his beloved Caps can bounce the New York Rangers in Game 7 of their NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

While a playoff loss and a T-2 in five months on Tour doesn't guarantee him his Tour card or a spot at the 2014 Ryder Cup, David Lingmerth seems to be off to a plenty good start on the PGA Tour.

joe jones says:His swing is reminds me a little of Trevino's swing. Strong left hand grip. He re-routes the club coming down, chases the swing toward the hole for a long time and hits a rather low fade. It's a bit old fashioned for the modern game but if he can develop consistency he can be around for a long time. The swing doesn't create much swing speed and may limit him on some of today's monster courses but he should do well on tight shorter courses.It's pretty much a self taught swing.Like Jim Furyk's swing I think he should not try to change it. Just make it reliable.